How Ohio’s Restore Court Focuses on Helping Sex Trafficked Youth

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has recently received much needed attention, but is by no means a new issue. Researchers have tried to approximate the scope of the problem, but it has proven extremely difficult to produce an accurate estimate of children who are victims of or at risk for CSEC in the U.S. State-level prevalence rates are equally difficult to produce, but a recent report estimated that more than 1,000 U.S.-born minors are sex trafficked in Ohio annually and thousands more are at risk for victimization.

Connecticut: Older bald man with gray mustache, beard, dark glasses in tan scrubs over white undershirt next to younger, tattooed man with dark mustache, beard, in same clothes with arms folded.

A Connecticut Prison Has a Radical New Plan to Keep Young Inmates From Coming Back

Leona Godfrey was sitting down to dinner at a TGI Fridays in Orange, Connecticut, in December 2013 when she glanced at a television and saw her little brother’s name on the local news. Davon Eldemire had tried to rob a small grocery store, shooting and injuring the owner. “I was devastated,” Godfrey recalled. “What was he thinking? I couldn’t eat.”

Mentors Crucial to Curb Recidivism for Youths

It has been said that all a child needs is one caring adult in order to become a success in life. When a child is removed from home because of parental abuse or neglect...

What to do With a Wayward 15-year-old Boy

I have a 15-year-old son who, in the past year, has gone from a quiet, well- mannered, well- liked child to a stranger to me. He hasn’t attended school in about two months. He comes and goes as he pleases, he will not respect the curfews I set for him and sometimes is gone for days on end. He has started smoking and he has admitted to smoking weed. He doesn’t listen to anyone and if we try and talk to him he just leaves.

Michelle Barclay: Reflecting on Being Thankful

I sat in the Fulton County Juvenile Court audience on Saturday, November 20th , with my son and my husband, watching the joyful and moving ceremony of 23 families who were celebrating their adoptions on National Adoption Day . Afterward, I thought about my earlier conversation this past week remembering Fulton’s Terrell Peterson who suffered and died at the age of 5 when he should have been protected by our child welfare system and adopted by a loving family. These two events might seem like they are far apart but they are linked in my mind because November is also the 10 year anniversary of Terrell’s picture on the cover of Time Magazine with the title of “The Shame of Foster Care." Terrell’s tragic case deeply affected many people. For my family, Terrell was the catalyst of working with Emory University School of Law to create the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic , for others it was the call to become foster parents , CASAs or mentors.

Treatment Program Working in Douglas County

The Juvenile Court Family Treatment program in Douglas County just celebrated five new graduates.  The program is growing more successful, and some graduates are returning to help mentor their peers.  Two are participating in the Georgia Meth Project.  One of the tactics that seems to be working is handing out small gifts.  Small presents like picture frames and coupons can be good motivators.  Read more in the Douglas Neighborhood Newspaper.